Entry 56: Power

Describe the power relationships in The Handmaid’s Tale. Who has power over whom? Why? Which relationships are overt (in the open and sanctioned by law), and which relationships are covert (hidden)? Does the narrator have power over anyone? Explain. Now discuss the power relationships in your own life. Who has power over you? Do you have any power? Over whom? Explain.

• In the Handmaid's Tale, women are extremely oppressed by men. A new order was created, crushing and eliminating any rules or laws that gave women power. Women couldn't own jobs or property, and they became handmaids, or tools that were only needed for men with wives unable to bear children, used as a surrogate mother to bear children. The women, especially the handmaids, had their freedom restricted by the government, as well as the household they served. The over relationships were the handmaids, the ones who were required by the law to have sex with men to bear children. The covert laws were the relationships where the handmaid's had affairs with someone other than their commander or owner, as well as the relationships between women and the secret organization that is trying to overthrow the current power. Basically, the narrator doesn't have any power over anyone, not even herself - she cannot decide her own life.
• In my life, I only have partial power. I can make some decisions, but not all. Most of my life is under the control of my parents. Basically, my parents and my family have power over me. I sometimes have power over my brother because I have to make him listen to me and make him do what he's supposed to do, and not pull me down with him when he doesn't do what he's supposed to do and get yelled at. I hate it when I get yelled at for something I didn't do, or did do. So, I have partial power over my brother.